To Hel and Back
by DolbyDigital
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a magical motorcycle but none could ride it, for to ride the bike you had to be deemed worthy.
"Molly?" Gideon asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Where're you going?" Molly stopped in her tracks, groaning softly, before turning to face her younger brother.

"Nowhere," she said, taking his hand and leading him back into his bedroom. "You need to get back to sleep."

"I'm not tired," Gideon said, the last word muffled by a yawn.

"Of course not." She smiled down at him, tucking him into the bed. Fabian was across the room, still asleep.

"You have to tell a story."

"I don't know any stories," she said. "Don't you have any books?"

"No. Mama makes them up."

"Well, yes, but-"

"So you gotta make one up," he interrupted. She felt the bed dip beside her, and Fabian slipped under the covers next to his twin.

"I thought you were sleeping."

"Nope." He grinned. "I wanna hear the story."

"There isn't going to be a story," she said, eyes glancing towards the learning clock on the wall, the brightly coloured hands showing her she was already late. Her brothers looked seconds from crying. "Alright, how about a ghost story? But you have to be quiet," she asked.

"Yeah!" Fabian yelled, before slapping his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. Gideon had sunk slowly under the covers, only his eyes still visible.

"I'm tired now," Gideon whispered.

"No! I want to hear the story!" Fabian pulled the duvet from his brother's face and glared at his siblings. "You promised." He turned large eyes to Molly.

"What about the magic car?" Gideon suggested, caving under his brother's glare.

"No, I want the ghost!"

"How about this," Molly interrupted before the argument could get any louder. "Once upon a time, there was a magical bike- a magical motorbike," she amended at Gideon's glare. "Once upon a time, there was a magical motorcycle but none could ride it, for to ride the bike you had to be deemed worthy."

.oOo.

"How do you know if you're worthy?" Sirius asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Well," Fabian said, smirking at his brother. "You have to pass a series of three tests."

"Tests?" Sirius asked. "The bike asks questions?"

"No! That would be ridiculous," Gideon said. "Do you think we're making this up?"

"The tests are set by the guardian of the bike," Fabian said.

"And who's he?"

" _She_ is a beautiful witch, born before the time of the Founders, who upon death was denied entry into the Afterlife," Fabian whispered.

"Because she she stole from the Gods a magical horse," Gideon finished. "This horse allowed her to freely traverse the lands of the dead during her life time."

"This made the Gods angry, but they were patient, for a mortal lifetime is mere seconds to them."

"They decided that the best punishment for someone who had ignored the laws of life and death was to force them to do so for eternity."

"But to stop her from entering the Afterlife, the Gods had to turn her steed into something that was never living-"

"As only those who were once alive can enter the world of the dead."

.oOo.

"How are you supposed to find her?" Fabian asked.

"Is that really the first thing you should be wondering?" Molly asked. Fabian nodded instantly, but Gideon frowned in thought.

"What happens if you pass the tests?"

"You get the bike, stupid," Fabian answered immediately.

"But what happens after?"

"Well," Molly said. "The curse on the witch is broken, and she can enter the Afterlife one final time."

"But what happens to the bike?"

"You get it, I said that already!"

"But it's a horse," Gideon insisted. "Is it cursed, too?"

"He is." Molly smiled down at her brothers. "Because the witch wasn't the only one who broke the rules. As the steed of the Gods, he knew not to bring mortals into the Afterlife before their time."

"But he's just a horse," Fabian said sulkily.

"He's not _just_ a horse," Molly said. "He's the horse of the Gods, and they don't tolerate unintelligence in any being."

"They don't sound very nice," Gideon whispered.

"Well, they're always fighting and breaking things and making messes," Molly began. "Sound familiar?"

"I'm lovely." Gideon glared up at his older sister stubbornly.

"Of course you are," Molly said. "You both are. Lovely enough to go to sleep now."

"But-"

.oOo.

"Won't the bike turn back into a horse?" Sirius asked.

"Not until the curse is broken," Gideon said.

"Won't the witch entering the Afterlife break the curse?"

"No, it only passes it on to the next person," Fabian answered.

"So… You're saying if I pass all three tests I get to live forever _and_ I get a cool bike?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Fabian and Gideon answered in unison.

"Wait, no," Fabian said, frowning.

"It's a curse," Gideon said, glancing to his brother.

"I'm seeing no downside." Sirius looked between the siblings, watching their evident confusion. "Not that I think it's real, of course," he added quickly.

"Of course," the brothers repeated. Sirius gave them each one last look before packing up his text books and heading towards the portrait hole, looking thoughtful.

The door swung shut behind him, leaving two identically amused faces still watching where he had just been standing.

"First years. They'll believe anything."

* * *

 **A/N -** The fairytale is intentionally vague in areas as originally Molly is making it up as she goes, and later Gideon and Fabian are recalling the fairytale. The way I see it, Molly isn't overly familiar with Norse Mythology, it's just something she remembered when she was forced to make up a story. Plus, no one actually bothered to ask _how_ to find the witch (the twins because it never occurred to them, and Sirius because he didn't want to seem like he actually believed the story) so that's why it never got addressed. In case you were wondering.


End file.
